The sisterhood of the writerly pact

I just met with my critique group - a safe sounding board for the works-in-progress of five inspiring women who met through the UCLA writing program. When we first started getting together a year and-a-half ago we were ambitious. We planned to meet every two or three weeks. After a while, we realized this wasn't realistic. Now we get together once a month - usually four out of five show up.

We've fallen into a comfortable routine. We almost always meet at Ann's. She feeds us an array of yumminess. If we meet in the morning, that could mean Belgian waffles. Sometimes we sip mimosas. For the first 45 minutes we talk about our personal lives - family, men, work, men, yoga - men. It can get racy - kind of like group therapy.

Then we each share a chapter or scene. One of us reads out loud and everyone comments and gives written notes. It's heartfelt, supportive and honest - soul baring stuff. I feel alternately disheartened and motivated. Thank you for pushing me, Bonnie, Pegah, Mahin and Ann - my sisters-in-pen. I know I need to push my writing more. I know I'm neglecting it.

I'm 100 pages into a novel that I haven't looked at in months. Then there are picture book manuscripts, two dummies and even a few color spreads. Some short stories. I have a concept for a memoir that I started a long time ago. I'm even negligent about submitting my work. It is sleeping - comatose might be a better word - in various files in my laptop, in manila folders, on shelves and in boxes. Now, I'm five chapters into a new novel - I left that protagonist stranded on an island weeks ago. Even she's fed up with me. On occasion, I hear her papery voice fluttering through the pages of the manuscript as she begs for attention.

It looks like she's going to get it. The upshot of this month's meeting - after the food, the group therapy and the critique part - the four of us made a pact. Even shook on it. We agreed to finish first drafts of our WIPs by the end of the year. After shaking hands we looked at each other in shock. The thing is - I'd already planned to do it this year in my head - but I didn't know if it would happen. Now it's real and I've gone public with it. I'm freaking out.

Just forget you read this.

Popcorn for the Brain: 2 Teens on books are back

If you happened to read the first two interviews with Rachel and Nicole - my niece and her best friend (see 2Teens and 2Teens2) - you know they have fascinating, even irreverent insights on YA books. The only problem - it's almost impossible to get them to agree to an interview at all. This time, Nicole said she'd go along with it if I gave them each $10. Here's what happened:

I won't pay you - but I agree to a bribe. I'll buy you each a book if you'll discuss what you've been reading lately.

Nicole: I have nothing to say. Except you can say I hate The Hobbit (JRR Tolkien). We're supposed to be reading it in English. In fact, I'm allergic to it.

Ha ha. What do you mean allergic?

Rachel: It actually made her sick.

Nicole: I was reading a musty old copy.

Aside from it making you sick, why did you hate it?

Nicole: It's boring. The Hobbit is bad because it's boring and outdated.

I'm going to try to poke a hole in that remark. I'm sure you've read out-of-date classics you like.

Nicole: Yes - The Hobbit is just boring. I don't like fantasy. I just took out the comic version and it worked fine. It's shorter and it has a lot of pictures. It was tough - I saw my English teacher when I was taking it out of the library.

Did she see it?

Nicole: She didn't. It was just funny. I read the comic book and Spark Notes - but The Hobbit's awful and it should be banned!

What else is on your bookshelf?

Nicole: I read Dear John (Nicholas Sparks) 'cause they made a movie of it - I wanted to make sure it didn't suck - it did.

Why?

Nicole: It was just kind of disappointing. It wasn't a happy ending.

Can you elaborate?

Nicole: It just turned around really suddenly in the last few chapters.

It's a love story, right?

Nicole: Yes.

Did you see the movie?

Nicole: The movie ending was better than the book ending.

Do you usually read the book before seeing the movie?

Nicole: No - I also re-read The Macdonald Hall Series by Gordon Korman - because it makes me happy. I do love these books because they're funny.

What are they about?

Nicole: Two mischievous boys and their life in boarding school.

They're not contemporary are they?

Nicole: No - they're not current but they're fun - they're not that old. I also like them because they're short and I don't have time for long books.

Do you re-read a lot of books?

Nicole: Yes - if I like a book I re-read it.

What about you, Rachel?

Rachel: I'm reading Cue for Treason (Geoffrey Trease) in English.

Nicole: Is it awful?

Rachel: Yes.

Nicole: We have the same English teacher. The curriculum just has boring books.

Rachel: When the book started out, everyone in the class thought it was extremely dull. Then I thought it started to get interesting. The teacher built it up and the book does as well - with a lot of foreshadowing. The author tried to cram too much into a small book and teach us about history. I'm nearly done reading it. In the end, the foreshadowing was way more exciting than the real ending.

Read anything else lately?

Rachel: The Confessions of Georgia Nicolson Series (Louise Rennison). I love those books.

Nicole: I've read them too.

Tell me more.

Rachel: This is about the third time I've read the series. I've read the ninth book and they just came out with a tenth.

What do you like about them?

Rachel: I like them 'cause it's just fun reading. It's like popcorn for the brain.

Nicole: And it has a fun vocabulary.

Rachel: Yes - like instead of saying America, she'll call it, "Hamburger a-go-go-land," and instead of New Zealand, she calls it, "Kiwi a-go-go-land." They're very relatable.

How?

Rachel: It's about a teenage girl's life and reading it makes you feel like you're not alone. It relieves stress because there's nothing too intense. It's pretty mindless - and now I'm done!

On that abrupt note, the interview ended. I thanked the girls and later gave them each a gift card from a bookstore so they could choose something new. Of course, there's a catch. I plan to follow up with them and find out what they chose. Then maybe I can interview them again - if they consent.

Next up - a Q & A with Seth Grahame-Smith, NYT bestselling author of Pride and Prejuduce and Zombies and the new release, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter - I only have about 65 pages to go. Please check back!

15 Lovely Blogs

What fun! Thank you Jan von Harz of EatingYABooks for giving me a One Lovely Blog Award this week. It's always gratifying when a reader leaves a comment - and encouraging to get peer recognition. In the nine months since I began this blog, I've realized the kid lit blogosphere is a most supportive and inspiring community.

Now it's my turn to honor 15 lovely kid lit blogs. If your blog is on my list - here's the drill:

1. Mention this award in your blog - as a new post or on your sidebar.

2. Give the award to 15 other lovely bloggers.

3. Send them a message or comment to let them know.

Okay - here goes - links to my list of 15 lovely blogs:

1. Picture Book Report

2. L.H. Walker

3. Thing 1 and Thing 2

4. Living By My Pen

5. Beverly BevenFlorez

6. Amy Writes...

7. Pen and Ink

8. Cocoa Stomp

9. This Purple Crayon

10. RHCrayon: The Blog

11. Book Booker Bookest

12. Cuppa Jolie

13. A Hundred Visions and Revisions

14. Finding Wonderland

15. Write About Now

Please check back soon. Coming up - a Q & A with Seth Grahame-Smith, New York Times bestselling author of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and the new release, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.

Also - the next in my continuing series of interviews with two witty teens on what books they've read and why!

While you're here - why not leave a comment? Better yet, become a follower. Thank you, lovely readers.

Keeping the Olympic spirit alive through books

When I arrived in Vancouver during the first week of the Olympics, my intention was to write about the excitement here and weave in some relevant notes on children's literature. I didn't anticipate the Winter Games would be so all consuming that I would abandon my pending projects - including this blog - to immerse myself in the once in a lifetime experience.

Now that the games are over, there's an anti-climactic lull in the city. The Olympic buzz fizzled out with the torch. Why not prolong the aura of friendly competition, awe inspiring athleticism, and international goodwill - through reading. Pursuing this idea, I stopped by Kidsbooks, a wonderful independent Vancouver children's bookstore, to find books on Olympic themes.

For the picture book crowd, the display in one of the windows was devoted to Tacky and the Winter Games (Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger). This funny story is about the antics of a group of penguins training for the Olympics.

Next on my list - a book on sports. Men's and women's hockey were high profile events during the Olympics. How about a book that would be both informative and fun for middle graders? A helpful staff member at Kidsbooks directed me to a display of books on Olympic sports, including, The Biggest Book of Hockey Trivia by Don Weekes - full of games, puzzles and fun.

Canada has been in the center of the world stage recently, rekindling the pride many of my countrymen and I feel in our Canadian heritage. In the aftermath of the games, it seems appropriate to include some contemporary YA fiction by Canadian authors. A few recommendations by the Kidsbooks staff: Alice I Think by Susan Juby, set in Smithers, British Columbia, is a funny story about a girl with an eccentric mother. Last December (Matt Beam) is about a 15 year-old who tries out for the school hockey team. Perhaps more serious, Sister Wife by Shelley Hrdlitschka, is the story of a girl who escapes the polygamous lifestyle in a small British Columbia town.

Finally, why not gear up for the 2014 games in Sochi, Russia by reading some classic Russian literature? Leo Tolstoy's short stories fascinated me when I was a kid. A new translation of his stories has just been released: Stories. Tolstoy is accessible to younger readers as well. The lovely picture book, The Three Questions (Jon J. Muth) is based on a Tolstoy story originally published in 1903. Muth's beautiful watercolor paintings make this book special.

Any comments or suggestions on books with relevant themes - fiction or non-fiction - please send them my way.

Coming up soon - the next in a continuing series of interviews with two witty teens on the books they read and why. Do check back!